Veggie Lavender Essential Oil Soap

[topofmurrayhill]

Back when I was selling some soap, my main recipe included animal fats, FD&C dyes and fragrance oils. More recently I embarked on a project to make a recipe I like as much as that one, but with a slightly more vegetarian and natural twist. Not because of my personal philosophy -- it's all good to me -- but because there are people who would prefer it and it was an interesting project.

So after some time testing and refining recipes and learning about essential oils, which I had never used before, I finally made a larger batch of sample soap to give people for feedback. I don't know if I will go back to selling anything, but I liked developing the product.

This is a mild, hard recipe with excellent longevity and a nice balanced lather. It is formulated with only vegetable oils. It's not palm-free because that didn't give me the flexibility to make as good a product as I wanted, but it can be made as a low-palm soap. The color is pink ultramarine, or at least the ultramarine that TKB calls pink. I think some suppliers sell it as lavender and sell a lighter version as pink. The fragrance is all essential oil, mostly lavender and lavendin plus some rose geranium and clary sage. I replicated the spin swirl that I used for the January challenge.

Thanks for looking!

 

[tigersister]

It's lovely. The swirls look purple on my screen. I wish I could smell it.

 

[cmzaha]

Those are gorgeous. I also make a veggie based soap, not my favorite but I do sell, and I find palm oil very necessary for longevity.

 

[shunt2011]

Those are lovely. I too make veggie soap as well as animal soap. I too sell so variety is nice

 

[dibbles]

Pretty swirls, and it looks purple on my monitor too. I also make both animal and veggie soaps. I don't sell, but I do like to play, and I like using both.

 

[SoapingChick]

So pretty! Beautiful color and the swirls.. It looks perfect!

 

[Sea Breeze]

This is beautiful soap. I love your take at the spin swirl, as I like them more whispy. My favorite is the hanger. But really love them all. I make only vegan soaps

 

[BlackDog]

Plus one for purple! They are beautiful!

 

[topofmurrayhill]

This is beautiful soap. I love your take at the spin swirl, as I like them more whispy. My favorite is the hanger. But really love them all. I make only vegan soaps

Thank you. I would also like to do the original version in the video, and I will when I can, but it depends on pouring from a low altitude and directly in the corner. The walls of my mold are too high and I don't have the ideal pouring implements for this. But I like this version too. I've only done it two times and they both came out nice.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.

 

[penelopejane]

Really nice, Topo. Beautiful in fact.

 

[Soap Techniques]

I like it a lot! The swirl is beautiful, the color is very attractive, and I love the texture of your soap!

 

[Sea Breeze]

Thank you. I would also like to do the original version in the video, and I will when I can, but it depends on pouring from a low altitude and directly in the corner. The walls of my mold are too high and I don't have the ideal pouring implements for this. But I like this version too. I've only done it two times and they both came out nice.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.

I don't have the correct molds or supplies either. I kind of cheat and pour anyway and spin lol. Makes it interesting. However, my last one wasn't a whispy swirl like yours. Try, try again.

 

[BusyHands]

Your soap looks beautiful & very calming!!

 

[regansoap]

It's beautiful and classy.

 

[Irja]

These are just gorgeous

 

[lenarenee]

Sorry I missed those when you posted! My screen shows purple and pinkish purple but the quality that I appreciate the most is the almost stained glass effect in the colors. Am I seeing things? I rarely use palm, but I do like how it gives a more translucent effect after a gel. I wonder is the ultramarines contribute to that as well? (I only use micas)

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Sorry I missed those when you posted! My screen shows purple and pinkish purple but the quality that I appreciate the most is the almost stained glass effect in the colors. Am I seeing things? I rarely use palm, but I do like how it gives a more translucent effect after a gel. I wonder is the ultramarines contribute to that as well? (I only use micas)

Thanks. There is actually very little palm in this recipe. Castor might contribute a little.

Sometimes I go for overall translucency, but for this one I used TD for contrast, so the lavender part has some depth and the white is pretty opaque.

 

[lenarenee]

Thanks. There is actually very little palm in this recipe. Castor might contribute a little.

Sometimes I go for overall translucency, but for this one I used TD for contrast, so the lavender part has some depth and the white is pretty opaque.

Clever technique - and what a difference it makes in terms of a professional looking soap. Plus, the bars look quite polished - almost like manufactured (that's not meant to be an insult - it's speaks to your attention to detail. Mine don't come close to looking professional, and I hope to improve on that.)

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Clever technique - and what a difference it makes in terms of a professional looking soap. Plus, the bars look quite polished - almost like manufactured (that's not meant to be an insult - it's speaks to your attention to detail. Mine don't come close to looking professional, and I hope to improve on that.)

Yeah it's a matter of style. There's no shortage of rustic soaps and wavy tops, to say the least, so I go for the more polished look. I enjoy the handcrafting involved even though it's difficult to charge enough for the labor that goes into making soaps like this, if you sell. Crafters are practically competing to earn as little as possible, so artisanal soap is dirt cheap. I think the most practical approach is probably just to have products that are pretty easy to make.

 

[CaraBou]

Love the fluidity. They're super pretty!